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ConcertsBrian WilsonDecember 18 2004, WellingtonIt's not often that we get rock legends playing in Wellington, and indeed Wilson was pretty sure that 2004 was the first time that he'd ever played in New Zealand. The result was often heart-warming – Wilson looked uncomfortable on stage most of the time, perched on a stool, relying on prompters and hiding behind a keyboard that he rarely played, but he had the audience on his side nonetheless, aware of what he'd been through and exuberant that he's functional enough to play live at all. Wilson bolted off the stage as soon as the vocals section finished in the first bracket, looked at his watch in the middle of 'Help Me Rhonda', and headed the wrong way for the exit at the end of the show, but while the music was playing he was caught up in it, connecting with the audience through his humorous hand gestures. His vocals were strong and enthusiastic, even if he missed the occasional high note. When a bass was handed to him for some of the songs in the encore it was almost poignant to see him stand up and become part of the group on the same instrument he played live with The Beach Boys in their early days, even though there was another bass player in the band and it was merely a tokenistic gesture on most levels. His backing band the Wondermints along with as the eight piece Stockholm strings and brass, managed to recreate most of the intricacies of the Beach Boys' sixties and early seventies records, as well as providing a sense of humour without being patronising, with the orchestral musicians chewing on their carrots, wearing fireman's helmets and miming swimming when required. The first set trawled through The Beach Boys back catalogue with familiar songs like 'California Girls' ("this is a song about girls from California", Wilson quipped) and 'Little Saint Nick' (added especially with Christmas only a week away), as well as more obscure seventies material like 'Forever' (dedicated to Dennis) and an amped up version of 'Marcella'. After a twenty minute intermission, the second set was Smile in its entirety - with the same musicians who'd played on the recording it wasn't revelatory or anything, but the elements suite made more sense as a concept with visual effects playing, and it was gratifying to see the audience recognise the opening of 'Surf's Up' with applause. For the encore, the group shot through another brace of hits, with the audience on their feet to 'Do It Again', 'Fun Fun Fun', 'Barbara Ann', and 'Surfing USA', before ending with a subdued 'Love And Mercy'. While Wilson isn't a confident front-man by any stretch of the imagination, his mere presence on stage was almost miraculous in itself, and seeing him make jokes and play the introduction to 'Marcella' was more than I'd been expecting from him. The chance to see arguably the most talented musician of his generation in person with a sympathetic and backing band was amazing and I don't have a bad word to say about it.
Feedback: Philip Byers writes Bob DylanFebruary 24 2003, WellingtonComing off a couple of strong albums, and touring with a rootsy backing band, it's probably a good time to see Bob Dylan, even if he is approaching the age of retirement. Dylan is notorious for changing the arrangements and melodies of his songs in concert, but on his current tour he is playing more traditionally. Most of the songs came out bearing a similar imprint to Love And Theft, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing even if it grew a little monotonous. Dylan seemed reasonably enthusiastic, and threw in a nice selection of rarely played older songs like 'It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)', 'Desolation Row', 'Highway 61 Revisited', 'Positively 4th Street', and 'My Back Pages' during a two hour set. The absence of material from Desire and Blood On The Tracks was baffling, given that Live 1975 is his latest release. Dylan spent a lot of time at the keyboard, which was advisable because his guitar solos were often embarrassingly rudimentary. It was also fun to watch his legs gyrate like Elvis. His harmonica playing wasn't particularly sharp either, but the harmonica is such an indelible part of the Dylan mystique that it was disappointing that he didn't use it more often. The set dragged towards the end with a sequence of less memorable material from Love And Theft, but was compensated by a rocking encore of 'Like A Rolling Stone' and 'All Along The Watchtower'. The encore was the most enjoyable part of the show, as the band played further outside their country-rock comfort zone than elsewhere. The band were excellent foil for Dylan, however, and the multi-instrumentalist bore a charming resemblance to Frank Zappa. In general, Dylan seemed focused on delivering entertainment and the experience is recommended. Dylan's iconic enough that he merely has to appear to gain love, and I wouldn't have minded if he'd put far less effort in than he did. The support act Ani de Franco did a good job too, holding the attention of the crowd (about half of which was well above her target demographic) with strong guitar skills, impressive stage presence and self deprecating humour. |
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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
